


Archived Memories

by Lunan95



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: 19th Century, Backstory, Beholding - freeform, Dark - freeform, Even Evil have Loved Ones, F/M, Gen, Jonah was already bad from the start, Lonely - freeform, Magnus' first Archivist, Prequel, Reincarnation, Supernatural Elements, Tragic Romance, and he went off the rails, and when he was still human, inspired by the trope, pretty vain and arrogant, so the bad guy became fucking terrible, sorta - Freeform, then his woman aka the archivist died, this was before the eye powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23821870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunan95/pseuds/Lunan95
Summary: Statement of Jonah Magnus, regarding his first Archivist who also happened to be his lover and reincarnated as Jenny Blackwood. Statement given by letter, unknown date.I have loved once. I am not made of stone, like you may assume.---in which Jonah explains, through a letter, why Jenny Blackwood matters so much to him.The answer is love.Just keep in mind that even evil have loved ones.
Relationships: Jenny Blackwood/Elias Bouchard, Jonah Magnus/Matilda Darcey
Kudos: 5





	Archived Memories

_ Statement of Jonah Magnus, regarding his first Archivist who also happened to be his lover and reincarnated as Jenny Blackwood. Statement given by letter, unknown date. _

I have loved once. I am not made of stone, like you may assume.

But it has always taken me by surprise, both of the times I met my lovely woman. My Archivist, the only and true one. You don’t find love, no matter how much you seek it. Love finds you in the most unexpected ways and it had left me bewildered, I couldn’t understand how it happened.

Her name was Matilda, as you perhaps have found out. The first Archivist of the Magnus Institute was a woman and it always surprises this male-dominated world. But she was the best; perfect and flawless.

Not even the esteemed Gertrude Robinson could ever measure to my lovely Archivist.

Have I never told of how I met her? It took me by surprise; it was completely unexpected and it still shook me to the core. I had been walking down a street - I used to have a daily walk from my institute when I felt far too restless - and one day, I just happened to bump into her.

Or rather, she jumped right into my arms backwards when she was almost run over by a carriage. Walking around with eyes in a book was dangerous and I scolded her for her carelessness, naturally. 

But then I was once again taken by surprise when she would have none of it! Matilda was such a headstrong woman. Her mindset was ahead of her time, I could tell that and her colorful personality intrigued me.

Now, you might think this was sudden of me, I invited her for tea at my institute and we had a very pleasant chat. I knew I was already in love with her and I could tell she had found love in me. So I told her what I felt and the feeling was mutual.

We kept meeting afterwards and I must tell you, this was a time when I didn’t understand any of these powers or the supernatural happenings which were told in statements and sent to my office for research.

Back then, I had my own little Archival staff, similar to the one that was formed with you and your friends, Jon. 

Matilda was my Archivist. But I never planned on it, there were no schemes or plots, if you may believe it. She had a good eye when it came to reading certain statements when I found myself unable to and I realized she could help me.

But then strange things began to happen, the more statements she proofread. Matilda started to Know things no one should have known out of the blue. I must admit I was a fool, simply believing that she was so much smarter than any man could comprehend.

The first time I realized the graveness of the situation was when she told a statement-giver, who was quite rude and opposed to talking to a woman, in 1821 to tell her everything and I saw the terror in his eyes.

He didn’t give his statement by free will. My Matilda forced the words out of him, tearing his heart open and the words flew from his mouth, telling everything in exact detail. She wasn’t aware of what she was doing until she was done.

It took me a good hour to calm her down afterwards; she was in distress over what she had done. She swore on her life that she did not know what she did or even how she did it, only that it felt like a strong pull. I held her in my arms and offered all the comfort I could give for my love.

I understood there was something about these powers that must be real and as I began to research more, I grew an insatiable thirst to know everything. Meanwhile, Matilda only grew more powerful and she soon became convinced that what we worked for was for the greater good.

For three more years, we worked together for the Eye. Matilda grew powerful enough to See and Know all around her but yet, there was so little she understood and she usually left that task for me. I did not mind ; this was something we did together.

I had already made up my mind by then. I found out there were rituals, bringing a power of fear into our world and it could reform our world. Mind you, our world was dreadful and terrible to live in. I was prepared to do everything to  break logic as we knew it , remaking it into something better and my love, my Archivist would be by my side and rule benevolently.

But then...something in the mists of the Lonely took her life. 

I had warned her to not go off alone in any danger, Matilda had the terrible habit to never say goodbye whenever she went out and I always feared if she did not return. By the time we had gotten the letter from my friend Barnabas Bennett who crossed Mordechai Lukas and begged me to save him, I hesitated. 

Lukas was a very good friend of mine and I had warned Barnabas at numerous times to not do anything to upset that family, they did not take lightly on being crossed and I wasn't sure if they could be associated with mercy. Alas, Barnabas had ignored my advice.

Matilda left that night, without my knowledge, to find Barnabas. She had been under the impression if she talked to Mordechai, perhaps he would understand and be merciful. Once I found her letter, I naturally ran after her. 

An unsettling feeling had filled me with dread and suddenly, I just knew that she was in mortal peril if she entered Lukas’ mists of the Lonely’s power.

I followed her lead as far I could and then, her trace was gone in the middle of the woods outside town. Lord should know that I searched and sought for her all night...until I finally found her.

Dead. I found my Matilda against a tree, her body slumped forward lifelessly and a dagger buried into her chest, strained by blood. Her skin was cold as ice, white as snow, and her lovely brown eyes had lost life forever.

I kept the dagger, for it had a symbol of a closed eye engraved in the shaft and the fury I let myself drown in was more than enough to fuel me to find out who had killed my Archivist. This wasn’t a work of the Lonely, as much as I could understand.

And as you perhaps know by now, yes. I did leave Barnabas Bennett to fend for himself, curious of what would happen if he was alone in the Lonely. Or perhaps my heart had already frozen to ice once I found my Matilda dead. Who knows?

I carried her back in my arms, ready to give her a funeral worthy for a queen who should’ve been by my side. Naturally, I have been desperate enough to try to revive her with the numerous books Albrecht Von Closen had given me to research.

I needed my Archivist by my side and I have lost count of how many times I tried to resurrect her without results. But my Matilda had gone somewhere I could not find her and it was with a heavy heart, I decided to turn my eyes towards our work and I kept going, determined to finish what she had started.

But she was still present in my mind, no matter how much I tried to let go. I assigned a new Archivist and another, for years. But no one was like her and once I finally understood, when I would See what our noble work was...I made the attempt of my own ritual.

The Watcher’s Crown.

Yet, it failed. But I had developed new powers on my own, courtesy of the Beholding as it was called. I had also attempted a ritual to bring back my true Archivist, but nothing happened. That was when I made the decision to wait and See when she would return to her rightful place, by my side and together, we would finish our work and see the fruit of our labor.

Decades passed as I figured out how to keep myself alive forever and once I had successfully brought back my Archivist, I’d share the Knowledge to her and we’ll be together again, forever and for all eternity.

I used new bodies and new identities through the decades, remaining the Head of my Institute and Watched as the time passed by. I had several Archivists, but no one like Matilda. 

At first, back when I was James Wright, I had thought that Gertrude Robinson would perhaps be the answer I sought. But alas, she had nothing of Matilda’s warm heart and compassion. But an Archivist was always an Archivist, even if it wasn’t a perfect one.

But then...she came back.

How curious it is though, to become surprised once again and like the first time, she fell into my arms when she was in a slight peril. A young woman had been balancing on a ladder inside the library and fell off, but I caught her in my arms and then I was met by the same, brown eyes and her hair was just as orange as my Matilda.

And then I just Knew...my love was back. She was back, reincarnated as Jenny Blackwood. Of course, she did not hold any memories of being Matilda two hundred years ago. But now I Knew that my ritual had worked, she was here in the flesh and with a new life.

But by that time, I had already chosen you as the Archivist, Jon. Naturally I was certain that Miss Blackwood would do an excellent job, but if I had learnt anything from letting her be the Archivist…

Then I would not let it happen again. It’s more than enough that she was the original Archivist, but this time I would keep my love by my side and make sure that she won’t slip away again. 

Jenny Blackwood, a woman I love and the only one I’d want for my queen. Together we would stand and see the world break, only to reform it again and create something greater that no one could ever measure up to.

But it wouldn’t make sense to spoil the surprise to Jenny, would it? After all…

I can’t wait to See her reaction to my little surprise.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this on my mind for a good while. 
> 
> I my experience, you're not just born evil. My theory is Jonah has always been kind of a bastard, but still human. But all it takes to become evil for real is a push over the brink.
> 
> Also one of my theories about why he didn't helped Barnabas when he asked for it may have been while Jonah was curious of what would happen if he didn't, his heart frozen to ice. 
> 
> Also there is a slight warning for possessive love when it comes to Jenny though. Jonah-Elias doesn't want her to die again, so he thinks keeping her in his institute will ensure her safety. 
> 
> This was beta-ed by a very good friend from the Magnus Writers discord. :)


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